you so much. >> your you're welcome. >> welcome to the news hour from al jazeera in doha. these are the top stairs. >> we cannot clothes our eyes to tanks that are crossing the boor from russia and coming into ukraine. >> the adjustment top diplomat calls for a ceasefire in eastern ukraine. >> bombs attacks stepped up in syria as a rebel group mobile sizes its forces. >> a below for greece, the european central bank tightens

the screws an lend to go athens. >> this is film festival in berlin getting underway. find out what the organizers here did or rather didn't do to upset north korea. that's coming up later. >> the u.s. secretary of state is calling for an immediate ceasefire in eastern ukraine. john kerry met petro poroshenko in kiev, saying he wants a peaceful solution but will not close his eyes to tanks. angela merkel and france president hollande plans to fly to kiev. the military alliance is plan to go strengthen its eastern

european strengths. we have more. >> in driving snow, john kerry was the first to arrive in kiev thursday offering u.s. support to ukraine and warnings to russia. >> we cannot close our eyes to tanks that are crossing the border from russia and coming into ukraine. we can't close our eyes to russian fighters in unmarked uniforms crossing the border and leading individual companies of so-called separatists in battle. >> he'll be followed later by the leaders of france and germany, president hollande and angela merkel. >> we will present a new policial to resolve the conflict based on the territorial integrity of ukraine and we will discuss it with president poroshenko today and on friday in moscow with the russian president, because time is of the essence.

>> this latest flurry of diplomatic activity reflection growing awarm at the escalating of fighting in eastern ukraine and belief that russia is fueling it. as nato headquarters, defense ministers made an early start to meetings which will be dominated by ukraine. they are expected to announce an increase to nato's response force with a new spearhead force of 5,000 troops deployable in days. crucially, it will have six command and control centers in eastern europe. >> the important thank for nato is to of course underline that rush is responsible for violating international law destabilizing eastern ukraine abannexing crimea.

>> it worries it has low erred threshold for nuclear weapons. western leaders seek to engage both sides to stop the fighting and restart peace talks. they will talk about while nato lays out detailed military plans on how they'll ever to respond if talks fail. >> we are joined live from moscow. john kerry's visit is pretty much about showing western support for ukraine. he said russia needs to show commitment to ending this conflict. how will president putin be viewing kerry's trip? >> well, i think moscow is waiting at the moment. was, it's been watching what kerry and petro poroshenko have said very closely making assumptions about what wasn't said in that press conference. it now has to see what transpires from the meeting tomorrow on friday between

merkel putin and hollande here in moscow. details of that are almost nonexistent at the moment. people here are expecting europe to come playing good cop to washington's bad cop sitting down with putin and saying vladamir what we don't want is for the u.s. to start arming the ukraine army, sending in advisers and escalating this, so let's cool this, let's leave the lines where they are at the moment try and set up some sort of federalized system in eastern ukraine, the challenge of course for moscow is how it respond to say that. >> rory, as you say merkel

hollande don't want conflict. >> it rests in the hands of one man, vladimir putin. people suggest that maybe even vladimir putin don't know what the end game is, that es a master tactician but his strategy is not particularly well developed. he does have certain constraints and imperatives that he's faced with at the moment. those are essentially that he's effectively lost ukraine. two years ago ukraine was broadly influenced by russia. he has set up his power in russia based on the premise of making russia strong, but the russian economy is crumbling

rapidly. has he to portray some sort of victory. he has a make it look at if he's going to come out of this with something positive to the russians. if he doesn't they might start questioning whether he's the right man for the job. >> ukraine's government and separatists blame each other for the collapse of a previous ceasefire. shelling in eastern ukraine that intensified in the past weeks. 230 civilians have been killed during that period. let's get more now from charles stratford live from donetsk. there's been confusion from all the diplomatic language. how is it playing out? >> it certainly seems to be some mixed messages here, darrin. we have as we heard in simon's report mr. kerry the u.s. official here today in kiev wanting a diplomatic solution for this, but at the same time saying that, you know, the u.s. cannot ignore the facts of he

says ukrainian tanks -- sorry russian tanks coming across the border into ukraine. the french president hollande also saying that diplomacy cannot go on indefinitely and there is a push to arm ukraine. they've been supplying flak jackets and night vision, but there's rumor to say open that up and to supply heavier weapons. it is also interesting, of course, we have a meeting nato meeting in brussels today where it's expected that nato members will agree to these five command

centers across eastern european countries and additional 5,000 rapid reaction troops, which of course is not going to go down very well with president putin in russia. so at the moment, certainly the u.s. secretary of state's visit and this push by european figures, president hollande and german chancellor angela merkel, there seems to be all these thoughts coming out at this stage. >> what's the fighting like at the ground. >> we continue to see an escalation of the fighting on the ground. we've just come back from the ukrainian military side around the town which has seen some of the heaviest fighting, civilians desperately trying to get out and flee the shelling from both sides. we came into donetsk today. there was additional check points there separatist check

points. there seems to be a renewed taking of control of check points and certain opportunities around donetsk and the surrounding of debaltseve. >> syrian airstrikes have killed people in the outskirts of dew mass discuss. at least seven people were killed of which four are children. >> the group behind the shelling of damascus calls itself the army of islam. it's leader has declared

damascus a military zone and a target. that was in response to a series of government airstrikes on the stronghold of the army of islam. we have more. >> >> this is the aftermath of government airstrikes on rebel-held positions on the outskirts of damascus. victims are taken to field hospitals. the army has recently suffered major losses in this area, largely controlled by the army of islam, one of the main opposition armed groups in syria. after almost four years of fighting in which thousands were killed and entire areas reduced to rubble, the violence continues. in a damascus suburb, the army has also launched airstrikes using barrel bombs. fighters have been trying to control this mountainous area.

if they capture it, they say they can easily smuggle weapons to the outskirts of the capitol. government attacks are aimed at driving rebels out of the areas that surround damascus. this is a convoy from the army of islam on its way to shell areas of the capitol. >> our attack is a retaliation against government troops and civilians on the outskirts of damascus and across the country. we warn civilians to avoid military areas. >> the armed group consolidated its control in many areas near mamas cuss. here its fighters attack government positions. the army of islam has expanded north joining religious armed groups against government groups. the syrian military remains in

control of most of the cities, now it's on the offensive. government jets attacked this opposition stronghold on the outskirts of holmes. the city is crucial for the regime. it's fall may pave the way for the rebel to say capture damascus. >> let's talk live now from beirut to a retired lebanese army general. we are now seeing syrian state media finally acknowledge losses on its side after shelling in damascus. how significant is that acknowledgment and what can we read into it? >> first of all you have to look at map to see priorities for the syrian regime. the capitol damascus, of course and the city and highway between them through homers. now the highway is under threat

and also shelling, damascus is the target of shelling as we know and many people, seven people killed and 30 injured. they also try and continue to threaten and i think now the syrian army has relearned today that it's focusing on part of the inside of damascus was surrounded and is not taken now by the syrian army and duma, now the syrian army and we do estimate that three brigades at least and supported by artillery and air force did advance on the north side. if they take it, i think it could be very from a military point of view, very important success. >> ok. >> then duma, the army is trying

to bring the population out of the there and did. i think the army is using all its forces now -- >> ok, let me jump in there. let's talk quickly about the army of islam this rebel group claiming responsibility for the latest shelling and attacks in damascus. are they just another rebel group trying to seize control or is the regime taking them for seriously? >> no, no, no, the regime knows -- maybe the regime did have certain groups to make a settlement and leave.

he is trying to threat that the other groups not to negotiate with the syrian regime. why? because he want to have control on all the groups. effectively, he is the master power person under opposition in that area especially in the eastern side of damascus. we have to mention that al-nusra a few days ago, now he said that we are aligned with the army of islam against one enemy, bashar al assad. >> thank you for talking to al jazeera. >> thank you. >> lots more still to come here on al jazeera. after the taipei plane crash the mayor hailed the pilots

heroes for avoiding high rice apartments. >> i'm jennifer glass on afghanistan's border. hundreds of families are arriving here every day because pakistani authorities are forcing them to leave. >> we head to equatorial guinea for the semifinals of the africa cup of nations. that's all still to come. >> the arab spring maybe a distant memory for many countries, but tunisia appears to be moving forward. parliament approved a unity government. it will be a coalition government the opposition will be small and weak. but tunisia's next prime

minister says it's the only option. >> we're all invited the government and these political parties, national organizations and civil society to work hard, hand-in-hand to open the doors of hope. >> most of the ministers are from tunis the biggest party and a small number from its rival. >> tunisia's political leaders seem to have put aside their differences on how much influence religion should have object state affairs and focusing on issues they agree on. >> like improving the economy. that's a priority. she renovated this historical building into a boutique hotel. she wants more economic reform. >> i think there are tremendous investment opportunities in tunisia in almost every sector

and a lot of educated youth to create jobs for so i think the priority would be to make the administrative process a lot smoother for start ups. >> it doesn't have the sectarian and ethnic divide that is a problem elsewhere. but there are security threats here. there's a fear that libyan violence might spill over the border. the government said there are thousands of young tunisians fighting for isil. >> the country needs unity. >> we agreed as we felt that this is a phase that we are passing through a faces of dialects agreement and harm knee. we should all agree for the interests of the country. >> for some tunisians the new government is a threat to democracy. for others, it offers stability but most people here say they're willing to give it a chance to prove it can change things.

al jazeera tunis. >> the new greek finance minister has failed to convince his german counter port to support his anti austerity plan, the meeting with one of greece's toughest critics. the meeting was the first since the power taking place in grease. greek banks will no longer be allowed to get cheap credit. >> germany is seen as one of the strong effort opponents to any reduction of greece's bailout debt. remind us what came out of that meeting with the germ finance german finance minister. >> it is not surprising that the statement of we didn't even agree to disagree, saying we didn't get to the point of discussing the greek debt or a

possible haircut. greece is saying we want a dialogue with our creditors not unilaterally but want everything up for discussion. the european side are saying look you've got to say you are committed to doing everything previous governments were committed to and from that point on we'll discuss any further austerity measures or 11ateion of the economy but you've got to sign on to what previous governments have signed on to. the government cannot do that, because that would resign it to the same austerity measures, many of yet which haven't been carried out which have proven unpopular around led to the election here. that is where the two sides now stand. >> talk us through what is it exactly greece is trying to sell to the european unions and is there a likelihood of any

compromise. >> his offer has been quite simply to exchange greece's existing debt to sovereigns and to the international monetary fund. it's about $300 billion worth of death, to exchange that for two other forms of debt greece feels it could more comfortably pay off, one a perpetual bond, in other words a permanent loan from the european central bank in recognition of the fact that one is always borrowing something from someone. that has been rejected. the other proposal is growth linked bonds. in other words a loan that you will only have to pay off while your economy is doing well and if your economy dips under performance then you for a while stop paying that loan off. that also has been rejected by the european central bank. trying to do an end run by seeing the european central

bank. the yesterday if the european central bank signed on to those ideas, he could have presented himself in berlin with a sort of prototype agreement but that hasn't happened. >> john, thank you. >> >> now the pilots of an airliner which crashed in taiwan hailed as heroes. the mayor of taipei said many lives were saved as the plane skipped past high rice homes and plunged into a river. the pilots are among the 31 confirmed dead. another 12 are missing. harry is at the crash scene. >> deep into the second night they bring ashore the fragments of the flight. they seem light flimsy. it's hard to imagine they were part of a fuselage designed to withstand the forces of flight, no match for the final steep plunge into the river in taipei. incredible that anyone survived.

this man did and he saved four others unbuckling their seatbelts also the water rose around them. >> i saw the others were drowning. if i did not move quick enough to help them, soon they would have been dead. >> he is one of several to say something seemed wrong before takeoff. one father who saved his toddler son moved his family to the right side of the plane saying he heard a sound with the engine. the pilot said there was a problem with an engine in the last seconds. the airline though, denied media reports that the turbo prop took off with an unchecked faulty engine. >> the reports are not true. we can present the document that is prove we had checked the plane before its takeoff and will send the documents to the civil air put thattics organization.

>> on the river the dive teams worked in short shifts in frigid water with visibility at near zero. even as night brought still worse conditions, they worked on. >> throughout the night we've been watching as they've been bringing ashore mangled twisted pieces of airplane, evidence of just how violent this crash was. what the loved ones of those still missing want to see their relatives brought to shore and that's proving an extremely grim and difficult task. al jazeera taipei. >> the king of jordan visited the hometown of the jordanian air force pilot burned alive by isil fighters. king abdallah paid his respects

to the family of muath al-kaseasbeh. his father is calling for his son to be avenged. jordan executed two iraqi convicts. >> a nighttime restriction enforced for more than a decade has been lifted. >> some might say it's risky but it's certainly a wildly popular move among most baghdad residents. for the first time in more than 10 years no more russia to go get home before the midnight curfew. this is a city where people like to stay out late and for the past 10 years haven't been able to. affecting restaurants shops basic daily life here. the prime minister has also announce that had there will ash crackdown in some select enables on weapons that can be carried and on the number of vehicles allowed in official convoys. that's a big deal, because you

routinely see in the streets ministers, members of parliament other officials with more than a dozen security vehicles. snarling traffic intimidating pedestrians and russiaing through traffic lights. all of that is meant to stop. there can be now only three vehicles in an official convoy and there will be a limit to mid range and heavy weapons in some of these neighborhoods, as well. this appears to be an attempt to crack down on security forces that have taken an increasing role in baghdad security, primarily shia militias, who have engaged in arrests unconnected with official security forces and done things like beaten up traffic police when they've been stopped at traffic lights. basically, it's an attempt to make life more bearable in baghdad. other cities are expected to follow suit lifting the curfews. >> more to come, including.

>> i asked the government to please reopen the text messages. i am really crying. >> deaf people signal their referring after the government switches off the internet. [ applause ] >> happy to be home, but concerned for his colleagues still behind bars in egypt we'll hear from peter greste. >> why this tunisian tennis player is under investigation for pulling out of a match that he was winning. more an that. stay with us.

>> now available, the new al jazeea america mobile news app. get our exclusive in depth, reporting when you want it. a global perspective wherever you are. the major headlines in context. mashable says... you'll never miss the latest news >> they will continue looking for survivors... >> the potential for energy production is huge... >> no noise, no clutter, just real reporting. the new al jazeera america mobile app

available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now >> a quick reminder of top stories, the u.s. secretary of state called for an immediate ceasefire in eastern ukraine john kerry meeting president pet president poroshenko in kiev. angela merkel and french president hollande will meet there thursday. >> attacks killed at least seven people in a syrian capitol. >> the new greek finance

minister met his german counterpart in berlin since taking power promising to end austerity. he said he agreed to disagree and reducing the massive greek debt wasn't discussed. >> the conflict in ukraine, the russian annexation of crimea has forced nato to rethink strategy, meeting in brussels to decide on a new rapid reaction force. the military alliance wants protection for it's eastern european members. john kerry says the u.s. can't close its eye to say russian tanks coming over the border. how significant is kerry's visit and how will moscow be viewing it, do you think? >> right now ukraine's on everybody's mind here in brussels and washington and

european capitals and moscow and kiev because there's very heavy and bloody fighting there but there's also a possibility that there can be very serious escalation of this fighting. there's also a possibility of a ceasefire, because it has bogged down into a stalemate more or less. i believe that the ceasefire has a good chance, and right how to, the flurry of international diplomacy high level with kerry and hollande and merkel going to discuss a ceasefire deal. >> nato meeting in brussels where you are looking to strengthen their eastern flank. is that likely to abred line for moscow? could that have the opposite effect and escalate the crisis? >> almost likely not

immediately, since these plans will be drawn out in time and maybe even some russian military people will be glad for that happening, because they were seen arguing for a long time that they need more defense spending because nato is moving forces and now there will be at least some forces there. i don't think this is going to escalate the conflict in ukraine per se, but the tension will not disappear, even if there is a ceasefire, it's going to be most likely there is going to be very serious wrangling on the terms and what comes next. the conflict does not end with one kind of magic decision by a president or chancellor. it's a very drawn out conflict and is going to involve russia,

ukraine and the west. >> as you say on friday, some of those key european players angela merkel, president hollande will meet in moscow. what does president putin want? >> the russian basic position strategic objective is to garb tee that ukraine will never become a member of nato, that it will continue to be sort of in the russian part of europe, and achieving that is not easy, even though president hollande has said publicly today that france is against ukraine joining nato. but that doesn't carry legal significance. one president says one thing and there goes his pledge, so this is not enough for moscow. moscow will be seeking

constitutional changes in ukraine that will ensure that ukraine really never goes nato or west and so that's what moscow wants wants political negotiations on the future ukrainian constitution between the present government and kiev and the rebels backed by moscow. >> thank you for talking to al jazeera. >> thank you. >> in northern iraq, kurdish peshmerga forces are in the forefront of fighting against isil. some have lost their lives some beheaded. >> he is too young to understand what happened to his father. he was beheaded by the islamic state of iraq and the levant. he was a kurdish peshmerga fighter captured in june. his wife can't speak. she's in shock. so are her children. they are also proud of their

father because he died defending their land. >> they kidnapped my father, killed him in a brutal way. we ask our leaders to help us bring back his body. >> he belonged to the tribe his village just a few kilometers from the village of the man who beheaded him on video. the killer was identified as a occurred from the zabari tribe. iraq's kurds are at war with isil but ever kurds in its ranks. there are no officials numbers but iraq said it has a kurdish unit. >> i am sad and angry. what made me more angry is that a occurred killed him. >> the suicide bomber was a kurd. >> he believes isil wants to turn kurds against each other in

the relatively kurdish region. >> they are playing on that to start fighting against the community. they will try using different kind of things. >> kurds appeared in propaganda videos and encouraging the secular kurdish society. most kurds of sunni muslims like isil with their own language and culture. >> isil uses beheadings as a scare tactic. this man was not the first kurdish soldier to be beheaded and may not be the last. isil has captured more than 50 peshmerga soldiers since the conflict began in june. >> many kurds of fighting and won't allow isil to divide their

community and won't let beheadings and threats scare them away from the battle. >> al jazeera journalist peter greste has spoken about being released and his joy at returning to his family in australia after spending 400 days in an egyptian prison. speaking to the press in brisbane he thanked all those who worked for his freedom. >> just after midnight in brisbane, peter greste landed back on australian soil. 45 minutes later he emerged to cheers and hugs. he was, he said ecstatic, but his thoughts of colleagues left behind. >> it feels absolutely awesome to be here with my family, with you guys, but of course, this is all tempered, i'm going to see this a million times by a real worry for my colleagues, for mohamed fahmy for baher mohammed. if it's right for me to be

freed, it's right for all of us. >> he left the airport a free man. on thursday at a press conference surrounded by his family he talked about how their support and knowledge of the global campaign to free him and his colleagues helped get him through. >> you always have your dark days and i often close my eyes and let my mind drift to where it wanted to go and almost invariably, it went to the beach, to the coast of the sea in some form. we me and andrew, mike and my sisters in law we all went sailing on sundays in 2013, and i always went back to those days on the boat. >> in cairo, it was fellow prisoners who helped. >> i also want to pay credit to my colleagues. we would support one another very directly. we knew that people would have their up days and their down

days and we were very careful at helping one another out listening to one another talking to one another supporting one another and at the same time giving space when we needed it. i think we've all grown very close as a result of this pros, as a result of this experience. >> the same deportation law that saw peter freed from jail is an option or his colleague, mohamed fahmy. he has reannounced his egyptian citizenship as part of an effort to deport him to canada. that is not available to baher mohammed. he is expected to remain behind bars until his restyle starts but a crucial written judgment from the court that ordered it has yet to be published. while in prison, the father of three missed the birth of his son born last august. his wife can't understand why he shouldn't she freed too. >> i don't know why he's still in prison. i really don't know.

his colleagues have been released. they were declared innocent. if this is deportation the new law was made to set the foreigners free to give them an opportunity to leave jail, but for him being an egyptian is the price he has to pay. is he still in jail for being an egyptian. >> this is a scene peter greste hopes will be repeated again soon. >> peter greste is back. once completing interviews, he'll celebrate with his family, but his thoughts still very much with his colleagues, two al jazeera journalists still unfairly behind bars. andrew thomas, al jazeera. >> you can find our extended interview with peter on our website, there it is on your screen just head to aljazeera.com. >> boko haram fighters have reportedly killed more than 100 in northern com ruin. the group based in nigeria attacked a town along the border between the two countries.

>> an offensive against boko haram, african leaders agreed to send troops to fight the troop. armies from chad, cameroon and nigeria are using ground forces and war planes. boko haram which has been fighting since 2009 has stepped up violence ahead of nigeria's february 14 election. >> the cameroonian minister of communication said cameroon can't defeat boko haram alone. >> what the international community to do is to understand that this problem cannot be tackled by cameroon, we need intelligence we need equipment which will enable us to face this ferocious terrorist group

to help us work out a plan that we will put at the disposal of the african union which will increase the security council in order to give us official mandate and other country to say help us so that we can address we can eradicate boko haram. >> the creator of the silk road website faces life in prison at his trial in new york. he was found guilty of drug and money laundering charges. he'll be sentenced for allowing users to buy drugs weapons and other goods. the site enabled more than a million drug deals worth at least $200 million. >> still to come on the news hour we'll see the problem with

the berlin film festival. stay with us. h us.

>> welcome back. sends text messages or using the possibly inner net is impossible in the democratic republic of congo. the government pulled the plug to crack down on dissent. the deaf community are cut off too. >> this school for deaf children it's time for physical

education. students here use sign language to communicate. beyond that, they depend on text messages and mobile internet, but the congolese government switched off the internet. they said people use them to instigate violence and looting. the children we meet are not happy. phone calls television and radio are still on, but of no use to them. they say they're completely cut off. >> my parents live far from here. i have not been able to communicate with them for two weeks. i asked government please to reopen the text messages. i'm really crying. >> they write sign to say show us this boy is inspired by the protests against the charlie hebdo attack in france last month. the children here learn skills that help them to get work when they leave. these girls are learning to sew. they raise money for the school

but depend on text message to guess communicate with the buyers. they can't, so there is no business and garments are left hanging on the wall. >> she learned to sew at the school as a child now runs a co-op or deaf women. the people who supply fabrics and buy the items don't know sign language and she is not able to talk. >> communication by text message is one of the only ways we can make money so because we're not communicating now we've lost a lot of money. >> the deaf community here in congo are struggling and they are many. there's no accurate data, but health charities estimate over a mill. the lack of health care means untreated infections during pregnancy and childhood often cause loss of hearing. the association for the deaf have over .500 members but without text messages or internet the only way to meet is if they walk around for hours

looking for each other. >> sometimes our members have accidents and need help, for example, if someone is hit by a car. without messaging he can't contact us to come to the hospital. >> the group secretary wants to watch this story on line. he won't be able to hear what we say and won't be able to see it, either unless the internet comes back. deaf need it more than most. there are few services to support people with disabilities. the children at the school are luckier than ears in the villages. one of the how that things that makes a hard life easier has been taken away. malcolm webb, al jazeera, in the democratic republic of congo. >> equatorial guinea hope fans carry them to the final of the africa cup of nations against ghana in the semifinal in a few hours time. equatorial guinea are the

underdogs. any chance of the host bringing an upset? >> if you speak to the locals, they tell you they're well on the way to the first title. the host nation has been a revelation not only in this tournament, but rise in football the last years. they are only appearing at their second africa cup of nations last 2012, made it to the quarter finals that time, one better this time, they're up to the semifinals now. the fans have the belief that the players and coach can inspire this nation to their first africa cup of nations title. of course it's not going to be easy against a team like ghana who are a regular suspect in the finals made it to five in a row so far. the only time they made it to the final is 2010. this ghana team is a team of big

name stars. they have home advantage not so much in malobo. >> let's talk about the semifinal that played out wednesday. of course ivory coast in their third final in 12 years. could they deliver? >> the coach made his players believe it's now or never. they've got a team of big name stars. they marched on to their second final in three years. that tree fee drought does now stretch 23 years. whether they can in fact go on to win it remains to be seen, but the coach has said nothing

other than africa cup of victory will be acceptable. he wants to be number one. with nigeria out of the running now, ivory coast hopes that it's them. >> the only goal this season, he's been firmly anchored to the foot of the standings. >> real madrid star player rodriguez could be out two months after breaking his foot. he gave real madrid the lead in their match on wednesday before being taken off. his replacement held on despite a late goal to win 2-1. they now lead barcelona by four points in the league.

>> tennis is investigating tunisian player after he retired in a match he was winning. victory would have seen him face an israeli opponent in the second round. he took the first sets of his opening match but with drew with an elbow injury, which he reportedly picked up at the australian open. victory would have seen him face the israeli player in the next round. when we contacted the tunisian tennis federation, they detained to comment. the reason he has come under suspicion is because he's dodge add meeting with israel before. in 2013, he with drew from a tournament after he was scheduled to face an israeli opponent in the last eight. the move was allegedly ordered by the tunisian tennis federation and resulted in tunisia being band for the 2014 cup. he's not the only one to snub israel. perhaps the most high profile

incident was rinaldo refusing to swap shirts with israeli players following a friendly. athens olympics world champion was disqualified from his fight against an israeli opponent for weighing in too heavy. suspicions were raised, because he previous live said he refused to face that opponent in the draw. >> to golf now there's a tie at the top after the opening round of the malaysian open. mcdonald shares the lead with his teammate former number one westford. seven birdies plus a bogey to finish in kuala lampur. >> winning stage two of cycling's due bay tour, a number of riders embarrassingly took a wrong turn sending them off course with 14 kilometers still

to go. no such problems for viviani to the front with 15 meters left, capturing his first win as a team sky rider. mark camp cavendish hangs on for the win. >> there is more on our website at aljazeera.com/sport. we've got videos from correspondents around the world. >> now to this year's berlin film festival, with a confusessing start in the eyes of north korea. we explain. >> they love a drama at berlin film festival, but as this year's gets underway, they've been at the center of their own. sony knows how that feels hacked and humiliated, allegedly by his people. all because of this, the movie "the interview" and the fallout

from hollywood to here. this is why. the film goes on general release in berlin thursday, but north korea got the city of berlin and the berlin film festival confused seeing them as one single entity and was not happy at all. it described the showing at terrorism and vowed vengeance for the humiliation the exact words merciless punishment. the boss here had to race to the north korea embassy and say you have this all wrong, it is just a coincidence that it's opening on the same day. pyongyang did eventually pull back albeit privately. aside from that drama, there is plenty to see on screen over the next week and a half. the golden bear is the big prize they're competing for here with everything from chile to chamber

maids to cinderella on show. an iraqi filmmaker is banned from making films but taxi is up for the top prize as he watches from tehran. >> he is expressing himself. he needs to make film and he will never stop. for us, it's a great way of promoting his work to the world. >> over the next 10 days, the movie world will watch. the crowds will freeze trying to watch and even north korea will be keeping an eye to make sure the crowds keep looking at this, and not this. al jazeera, at the berlin film festival. >> stay with us here on al jazeera. i'll be back at the top of the hour with another full bulletin of news. stay tuned. bye for now.

>> an america tonight investigation >> somebody could come in and take our home away from us >> it was a law that helped condo developments stay afloat >> we would have to sell and have to leave our unit >> now, this law is being used to take peoples homes >> there's nobody helping us... >> honest people, losing hope... >> i didn't fight vietnam so that someone could take my property away from me >> hard sell an america tonight investigation only on al jazeera america

>> we cannot close our eyes to tanks that are crossing the border from russia and coming into ukraine. >> a new push for peace from top u.s. diplomatic calling for immediate ceasefire as tensions increase in ukraine. also on the program government strongholds in the syrian captain of she would the air force responds with deadly strikes on rebel held suburbs. >> we agree to disagree. >> europe's top economic power sk